The topic of sexuality in medieval Europe is a hugely debated area that is becoming more and more central to the study of the Middle Ages. This highly readable new study provides an overview of the subject, demonstrating that medieval culture developed sexual identities that were quite different from the identities we think of today.
Using a wide collection of evidence from the late Antique period up until the fifteenth century, this informative and intriguing volume illustrates how sex in medieval times was understood, not as something that two people did together, but as something that one person did to another. Consequently, gender roles and identities were seen very differently from the ways our society defines them.
Challenging the way the Middle Ages have been treated in general histories of sexuality, the author shows how views at the time were conflicted and complicated; there was no single medieval attitude towards sexuality any more than there is one modern-day attitude. The well- |
